From leadership development to leadership ecosystem, enabled by AI

Let’s be honest: we’ve been talking about reinventing leadership development for years. And yet, in most companies, it still resembles what it did 15 years ago: workshops, offsites, slide decks, assessments, and frameworks that feel insightful and inspiring in the moment, but seem miles away from what leaders face on a Tuesday afternoon between back-to-back meetings. 

Meanwhile, the demands placed upon leaders have continued to increase. Talk to any leader about their challenges, and you’ll hear about their struggles with ever-increasing complexity, change, ambiguity, challenges, speed, and overwhelm. And with AI, all of this is happening at an unprecedented rate.

It’s no wonder that traditional leadership development isn’t enough. But the great news is that AI is both forcing and enabling a system upgrade and paradigm shift — from leadership development to leadership ecosystem.

Goodbye leadership development, hello leadership ecosystem

For too long, we’ve treated leadership development like a greenhouse project. We handpick leaders, give them perfect conditions—structured programs, curated feedback, maybe even a coach—and hope they’ll thrive. And they do…inside the greenhouse. But the minute they step outside into the real climate of the business, they’re hit with competing signals and systems that weren’t designed to support the kind of leadership we say we want. 

We need to let go of the assumption that great leadership can be ‘installed’ through training and development. Leaders don’t grow in isolation: they grow in response to their environment. If the surrounding systems are unclear, inconsistent, or working against them, even the most talented leaders will struggle to sustain the behaviors we’re asking for.

What we actually need is a leadership ecosystem—an environment where leadership is supported to thrive via intentionally designed conditions. 

Nurturing your leadership ecosystem

What does nurturing your leadership ecosystem look like? It means paying attention to all of the conditions in which leaders operate, the same way as you would if you were planting and nurturing a garden. For example: soil (culture), climate (organizational systems and expectations), seeds (hiring), sunlight (recognition, rewards, and promotions), water (development), fertilizer (enablement), pruning (feedback and reviews), and even pollinators (connections and communities).

As an example, HiBob is currently rolling out and embedding our new Leadership CODE—our compass for exceptional leadership at our company. While it’s an internal initiative designed to guide our own leaders, the thinking behind it could inspire similar frameworks elsewhere. We are focusing heavily on designing and evolving the conditions listed above to align with our Leadership CODE, rather than just creating and communicating the model. Because we know that our leaders can best thrive and reach their fullest potential if our leadership ecosystem is aligned.

If all these conditions feel overwhelming, take it back to basics. A simple but powerful question to ask is: What in the system might either block or reinforce (insert mindset, skill, or behavior) for our leaders?

AI is enabling an (eco)system upgrade

AI is a game-changer when it comes to nurturing your leadership ecosystem. For years, we’ve talked about “learning in the flow of work.” But the truth is, it’s been clunky and hard to do, until now. AI is helping us meet leaders where they are with tips, coaching, nudges, and insights exactly when they need them. Think of it like cooking. You’re staring at a bunch of random ingredients in the fridge. In that moment, you don’t want a theory for molecular gastronomy—you want a recipe that uses the ingredients you have and helps you put dinner on the table ASAP.

AI can help our leaders move forward with speed and personalization that’s easily scalable. That’s why we rolled out an ‘AI Coach in Your Pocket’—an internal program with practical AI prompts curated specifically to help HiBob leaders navigate daily leadership situations and challenges. While it’s not part of our product offering, it’s a great example of how we’re using AI internally to support leadership growth in real time. We’re also exploring ways to use AI to make it easier for leaders to build habits based on our Leadership CODE, so they can make intentional choices in the moments that matter.

We’re not against workshops, offsites, or retreats. In fact, in today’s fast-moving, hyperconnected world, leaders need those moments more than ever. But with AI, leaders can be better supported with personalized coaching, conversations, and nudges in their day-to-day reality. And as my fellow Bobber, Kenneth Matos, says in this great article about the ROI of leadership development and training, building strong leadership isn’t a luxury—it’s one of the smartest investments HR can make to drive business success.

Our HR platform, Bob, also plays a vital role in helping leaders lead. Whether it’s having meaningful one-to-one conversations, streamlining admin tasks, or turning team data into visible and actionable insights, Bob gives people leaders the visibility, clarity, and simplicity they need to focus on what matters: their people. 

Redefining leadership, accelerated by AI

As we rethink how we support leaders, we also need to rethink who we’re supporting. The definition of ‘leadership’ has expanded over many years, and most modern companies probably agree that leadership isn’t limited to those with direct reports or at senior levels. At HiBob, we believe that leadership is about how you show up in the moments that matter, not what’s on your email signature.

AI takes this paradigm shift to a whole new level. With AI embedded in the flow of work, every employee is effectively a leader leading a set of agents. This redefines what it means to be a leader. Leadership is no longer just about managing people: it’s also about directing intelligent agents by asking great questions, sharing thoughtful feedback, using sound judgment, having strong ethical boundaries, and so on. Sounds familiar?

So what does this mean in practice? It means we may need to equip everyone, not just leaders, with the mindsets and skills to lead well in an AI-enabled world. 

What HR can do now

The shift from leadership development to leadership ecosystems isn’t just a mindset — it’s a call to action. Here are a few practical ways to get started:

• Reshape your scope: If you lead or oversee leadership development at your company, redefine the scope and focus of the role to move beyond the confines of traditional leadership development. 
• Think ecosystem, not event: Thriving leaders aren’t built in a day — they’re built in the everyday. Focus on aligning your systems, tools, and signals around a shared definition of what great leadership looks like. 
• Create conditions, not just content: Before launching your next leadership offering or program, check how current ecosystem conditions are helping or hindering the behaviors you want to see.
• Use AI to meet leaders where they are: Explore how you can leverage AI to deliver tips, coaching, nudges, and insights to leaders in the moments that matter, and ensure alignment on how you define leaders and leadership.

Let’s stop building the greenhouse and start nurturing the ecosystem, so that our leaders, teams, and businesses can thrive.